“Like I said, I have something I can’t miss tomorrow. ……”

“Is it more important than me?”

“I didn’t say that. It’s just a concert I’ve always wanted to go to. I can go on a date anytime, but the concert is only tomorrow. ……”

“Oh, okay. Make a choice. You can either go on a date with me, or I will break up with you and you can go to the concert.”

“W-Wait a minute. Why are you giving me an ultimatum?”

“Meet me at Shibuya station at ten in the morning. If you’re late, it’s over”

After she told me in a straightforward manner, she turned on her heel and headed home.

I couldn’t muster the energy to go after her.

　No matter what I said to her, she wouldn’t listen to me.

　I had already given up on her based on my previous experience.

　I —- Hiroto Suginami – experienced my first love when I was in junior high school.

　It was a girl sitting next to me. We gradually began to talk to each other during recess, our private interactions increased, and I gradually became aware of her as a member of the opposite sex.

　Then, in the summer of my second year of junior high school.

　I could no longer hold back my feelings and confessed to her.

　She accepted my confesion with two words.

　I was so happy that tears welled up in my eyes.

　It was fresh, happy, and fun to be in an environment with a girlfriend. It was a sparkling time.

　However, that pure happiness did not last long.

　Two months had passed since we started dating.

　Whenever it became inconvenient for her, she started using “breaking up” as a weapon.

　If I couldn’t arrange a date, she would break up with me.

　If I befriended other girls, she would break up with me.

　If I got bad test scores, she would break up with me.

　If I forget our anniversary, she would break up with me.

If I don’t finish first in the 50-meter run at the gymnastics festival, she’ll break up with me.

By threatening me, she was able to make things go her way.

Now that we are in our first year of high school, she is always threatening to break up with me, and a clear hierarchical relationship has developed between us.

Can this situation be called a normal girlfriend?

I gently drop my gaze.

I noticed a watch on my right wrist.

　It was half past ten.

　It was already thirty minutes after the scheduled rendezvous.

[I’m already here. Where are you?]

The chat I had sent earlier remained unread.

Staring at my phone helplessly, the message was finally read.

[I just woke up. Too sleepy to go on a date today.]

“….Stop f*cking around.”

What came out of my mouth was a violent comment.

　It was surprisingly dusky and full of negative emotions that even I was surprised.

　My patience was at its end.

　I gave up on the concert I had been looking forward to for so long and prioritized a date with my girlfriend.

And yet…..what the hell….this.

　I’ve had many similar experiences in the past.

She doesn’t tolerate me being late, but she is always late for dates and even cancels without a second thought.

It’s all about what she wants to do at that moment in time, and not about me at all.

　Why am I her boyfriend?

　That’s the question that came to me.

　Do I love her?

　When we first started dating, she was the person I loved most in the world.

　But now, I wonder.

　Do I love Asuka?

　I found myself gripping my phone tightly and sending a chat to Asuka.

[“Come here right now or I’ll break up with you.”]

　A common phrase she usually uses.

I used it against her for the first time in my life.